LForce: Solo Battles
by MileyLoonaticsFan96
Summary: The Loonatics go to battle one night and then get in a fight and split up. L-Force splits up, too, and the groups must reform several months later to fight a great big bad guy in Acme Antarctica. Sequel to "New Kids"
1. Chapter 1

L-Force: Solo Battles

Chapter 1

Wake stood at the dock, her dark hair and cloak-like dress flowing in the wind as she stared out at the roaring ocean lying beneath the purple sky. _So much has changed in this world. No matter, I shall rule it regardless of these 'Loonatics' and young Deirdre and Cassandra will stand at my side along with anyone else willing to join me._

A young girl came up next to her and looked out at the water.

Wake stopped her thoughts and turned to look at the girl, smiling as she realized she was sensing power. She looked around and saw that no one was there for nearly half a mile. "What are you doing here all alone?"

The little girl looked up at her. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

"3 things: 1, you're already talking. 2, you shouldn't wander off either. And 3, I'm not a stranger."

"Then what are you?"

"An Oasis."

"A what?"

"Let's just say I'm about as powerful as you."

"You're weird." The girl turned to leave.

Wake started singing and the girl stopped before she could take one step. "Such a young child," she said, kneeling down next to the girl, "So powerful, yet so helpless. I can change that." Her face changed and her eyes turned golden and red. "I can help you." She scooted the girl's hair away from her neck. "You have 3 choices: 1, give your power to me. 2, become my servant. Or 3, let me…bring you back. Of course, technically speaking, you're gonna die no matter what, so just pick something."

The girl looked at her. "Bring me back, mistress, I wish to serve you."

"Now that's more like it." She bit deep into the girl's neck. After she had taken enough blood, she dropped her onto the ground and turned back to normal. "When you wake up, your power will be increased tenfold and you'll be just as bloodthirsty as me. Of course, you'll just be a Vampire and a mutant, nothing else." She heard someone coming and used her body to block the dead girl from view.

Deirdre Palmer came up. "So what'd I miss?"

"Oh, it's you." Wake moved over to reveal the girl. "Just doing a little recruiting."

"'Recruiting'?" Deirdre asked, "She's dead!"

"Wait for it…" Wake's body glowed for a second as the power of the girl's soul went into her and the girl woke up to reveal herself as a newborn Vampire.

"Oh, well, that makes way more sense." Deirdre went over to them and helped the girl stand up. "As long as she doesn't bite me, I'm cool with it. But how did she rise so fast?"

"An Oasis changes their victims differently than a normal Vampire," Wake explained, "Then again, I'm the first and only Oasis, so maybe I should say 'the'."

The girl changed out of her game face and into her normal form. "So what's the plan, mistress?"

"To crush the spirits of the very brats that stand in our way."

"Why crush their spirits?" asked Deirdre, "Why can't we simply crush them?"

"Patience, Deirdre," said Wake, "They're weaker apart. It'll be easier this way. I have a plan."

"Let's jet, Loonatics!"

"L-Force, move out!"

The 6 anthros and 4 humans flew out of the tall tower. They landed in Acme Plaza.

"'L-Force'?" Lexi Bunny quoted.

"New team name," said Kyra, the leader of the 4 humans, "What do you think?"

"It's better than the last one," said Nathan.

"One question," said Danger Duck, "What's the 'L' stand for?"

"Loonatics," Kyra answered, smiling.

"Makes sense," said Duck.

"So where's the Big Baddy?" asked Zack.

Just then, a dragon landed in front of them.

"OK then."

Lexi brain-blasted the dragon. Ace laser-blasted him. Duck threw "eggs." Slam smacked him really hard. Tech threw whatever metal thing he could. Kyra called forth a bunch of animals. Rev made a cyclone to distract him [and suck away the oxygen so that he couldn't breathe fire]. Zack tried to figure out what his worst fear was [and if his power worked on monsters and animals and stuff, which I'm surprised they didn't know already]. And Zara kept trying to grant any wish she thought would help.

The dragon held his tail out and grabbed Rev, throwing him at Zack. When Rev hit Zack, he stopped moving and fell on the sidewalk, but Zack was launched into a wall and landed on a pile of boxes with various items inside (mainly flour).

Tech caught sight of the boxes and noticed a very sharp knife come out. He used his power to levitate it and then launched it into the dragon's heart.

The dragon roared in pain and then fell on top of Slam as he died.

Slam got out. "Ow."

Zara looked around. "Zack? Where are you? Are you OK?"

Zack wrestled his way out of the boxes, now covered in flour. "Yes. Here. And no." He went over to them and shook himself off. "Now I'm fine."

"Really?" Kyra asked.

"No!" Zack yelled. No one seemed to notice his eyes had turned reddish-black and then faded back to their normal blue. "Why didn't anyone help me?"

"Get-a-hold-of-yourself," Rev said.

"Says the bird that smacked into me," Zack said, crossing his arms at them, "Speaking of birds, Kyra, why didn't you bring in another dragon or something?"

"Because a dragon's a monster not an animal," Kyra said, "and are, therefore, not birds."

"Yeah, I know," said Zack, "I was talking about you."

Kyra slapped him and his eyes flashed.

"Whoa, what happened?" Zack asked.

"You know what, Zack?" Tech said, "You really put things into perspective for me." Everyone stared at him, wondering what that could mean. "I QUIT!"

"No way!" Lexi said, "I was going to quit! Now everyone's going to think I copied off of the smart coyote!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Duck said, "Maybe I quit."

"No quit, Duck," Slam said.

"Slam's-right-Duck-we're-a-team-we-can't-split-up-I-mean-we're-nothing-without-each-other," Rev said.

"Yeah, don't care," said Duck.

"And I guess since we're not a team anymore," said Ace, "that leaves me free to quit, too!" He left and Lexi followed shortly after. Tech went the other direction.

"Well-Slam-I-guess-it's-just-you-and-me," said Rev.

Slam shook his head. "Me quit, too."

"WHAT?" Rev said as Slam walked off, "Does-this-mean-I-have-to-quit?" He sped off after the devil.

Duck looked at Zara and she looked back at him, sadly. "Sorry, Zara. Guess you guys are on your own." He started to walk off. "Good luck, L-Force!"

Zara, Zack, Kyra, Nathan all looked at each other.

"What just happened?" Kyra asked.

"I think our base of operations just quit," said Zara, "I can't believe they'd do that to us. They know we can't survive on our own!"

"You really think that?" Nathan asked.

Zara then realized what she'd said. "Oh…no, Nathan, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's OK, Zara," said Nathan, "I understand.…I quit, too." He walked off.

Kyra looked at the twins. "Sorry, guys. There's nothing left." She walked off.

Zara almost cried as she and Zack just stared at each other. "Please don't quit on me, too."

Zack shook his head. "No, Zara. Real friends don't quit."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_One year later…_

Zack came into the tower. He approached the couch where Zara was sitting, watching TV, and dropped a newspaper down in front of her. "Another murder."

"That spells Deirdre," said Zara, picking up the paper and looking at it, "That's the 52nd one since…well, you know, Dragons R Us. Are you sure she wasn't involved in that? Tech did say that they had been preparing to launch a spell when Cassandra went looking for that Jewel with them."

"Well, even Tech can be wrong sometimes," said Zack, "He was the first one to quit. He doesn't get to help with the murder mystery mania."

"His loss."

A bell sounded.

"Oh, great, company." Zara stood up and turned off the TV. She and Zack went downstairs. They opened the door that led to the street and revealed a young man who looked about their age (AKA 18). "Who are you?"

* * *

Deirdre raced down the street. Her victim, a young girl, kept running. Suddenly, the girl stopped at the corner and stepped back.

Another girl of about the twins' age was standing in front of her, a girl with shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes. "Hello there." She took off her black leather glove and grabbed the girl's arm, launching her back down the street.

Before the girl could get back on her feet, Deirdre came along and pierced her in the heart with a dagger and let her fall to the ground, dead. "Thanks for the help, Cassandra. Now get out of that disguise."

Cassandra rolled her eyes as they turned blue and her hair grew in length and turned blonde. "2 questions: 1, why are we killing these innocent people again?"

"Because we need their souls for our ritual, remember?" Deirdre answered.

"I know, but it's taking forever to get the right amount of souls. I don't see why we can't just do it now and get it over with."

"In time, Cass, in time."

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever. What's 2?"

"2 is 'why didn't Little Miss Leather tag along?'"

"You're one to talk about the whole leather situation with your gloves on." Cassandra's gloves turned to brown cotton. Deirdre rolled her eyes. "And her name is Loraine."

"Just answer the question."

"I told you, she's a Vampire, she's can't come out in daytime. The sunlight would make her burst into flames and turn to dust."

The sun picked that moment to finish setting.

"OK, Lore, you can come out now," said Deirdre.

The girl Wake had bitten came out from behind the nearest building. Her hair was now as dark a black as Wake's. She was 13 now, too. She was wearing leather pants, dark purple flip-flops, a black tank top, dark purple wristbands to match her flip-flops, and a spiked choker. "About time. Curse you, cruel sun!"

"Well, come on, let's go kill someone else while we have the chance," Deirdre said.

"We just killed the 3rd person today," said Cassandra, "Can't we…take a break, at least?"

Loraine laughed. "You're so funny. You think people can change, don't you? We are not stopping."

"She's right," said Deirdre, "The Loonatics split up a year ago. They're not going to be around to stop us. And if their little human friends come along…let's face it, those 4 are weak, alone or together. They'll never face anything and win." She and Loraine started to walk off.

"If I remember right," said Cassandra, "It was the little school boy that killed your brother."

Deirdre quit walking. "Get. Out."

"No, she can come with us," said Loraine. She motioned for Cassandra to move before Deirdre could get too angry.

* * *

(Demi Lovato's "Solo" plays in background)

_You speak to me,_

_And in your words I hear a melody_

_But in the twilight it's so hard to see_

_What's wrong for me_

Zara and Zack came to an airport, each twin carrying a suitcase.

_I can't resist_

_Until you give the truth a little twist_

_As if you're gonna get away with this_

_You're not sorry_

Zack stopped walking and Zara stopped, too, when she noticed his stop.

"What?" Zara asked.

_I can't believe_

_I fell for this_

"I forgot the tickets," said Zack, turning around.

"I'll save you a spot outside the terminal," Zara called after him, continuing down the hall.

_I fell through the hole_

_Down at the bottom of your soul_

_Didn't think you could go_

_So low_

"Zara?"

Zara turned to see Duck. "Duck?"

_Look at what you've done_

_You're losing me_

_Here's what you've won_

_Got me planning to go_

_Solo_

_Solo_

"What are you doing here?" asked Duck, going over to her.

"Well, Zack's here, too," Zara added, starting to walk again with Duck following her, "It's kind of a long story."

_You sing to me_

_Too bad you couldn't even stay on key_

_If you're life is such a mystery,_

_Why don't you just stick to acting?_

"So where you headed?" asked Duck.

"Acme Antarctica," Zara answered, "I don't know how I got roped into this."

"Hey, I'm headed there, too," said Duck.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Wow."

_Oh_

_Here you go again_

_You couldn't find my number until when_

_You thought that you could get to my best friend_

_Without a script your game is_

_Lacking_

"So what have you been up to?" asked Duck.

"Same old, same old," Zara answered, "You?"

"I wrote a book," Duck said, "And all it took me was 10 years."

"We've only been split up for 1 year," Zara corrected.

"I know."

_I can't believe_

_I fell for this_

Zack came up. "I found…what's he doing here?"

"He's headed to the same place we are," said Zara.

"How 'bout that?"

"Tech?" all 3 of them said, turning to see that coyote standing behind them.

_I fell through the hole_

_Down at the bottom of your soul_

_Didn't think you could go_

_So low_

"Let me guess," said Zara, "You're headed to Acme Antarctica, too."

"Good guess," Tech said, joining them.

_Look at what you've done_

_You're losing me_

_Here's what you've won_

_Got me planning to go_

_Solo_

_SOLO!_

"And what have you been up to?" asked Zack.

"I went back to the Acme Institute and won a Nobel Prize," Tech said, smugly.

"And I thought Duck's book was impressive," said Zara.

"You mean he actually read a book?" Tech asked.

"Ha ha," Duck said, sarcastically, "Very funny."

_I'd rather go out to a party alone_

_Than have to walk around with you on my arm_

_Now that I'm proud to admit that we're done_

_Good luck trying to find me_

The 4 of them reached the crowded hall to the terminal (Antarctica was the plane's last stop, everyone else was headed to Acme France) and sat down between a boy and a girl.

The girl turned to face them and took off her sunglasses. It was Kyra!

Zara looked at Kyra. "Oh, hey, Kyra."

"KYRA?" Zara, Zack, Duck, Tech, and the boy all said.

The boy took off his sunglasses to reveal himself as Nathan.

"Nathan?" Kyra said.

"NATHAN?" Zara, Zack, Duck, and Tech all said, turning to him.

"Stop doing that!" Kyra scolded, "It hurts my ears and it's really annoying!"

'_Cause I didn't think you could go_

_So low_

The crowd cleared a little to reveal someone complaining to the boarding guide. "What do you mean I can't have 3 carry-on bags?" The complainer seemed oddly familiar to the 6 of them. She was wearing a pink chiffon skirt, a lavender top with one sleeve, sparkling aqua flip-flops…and a green ribbon wrapped around her long, slender cream and white ears.

"Lexi?" all 6 of them said.

The bunny turned around to face them and took off her sunglasses to reveal her green eyes. "Oh no, not you guys!" She groaned and put her glasses back on. "I'm not talking to you." She turned her back to them.

_Look at what you've done_

_You're losing me_

_Here's what you've won_

_Got me planning to go_

_SOLO!_

Lexi turned back to face them. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Looks like we all got the same call from this Eskimo," said Nathan.

"Not all of us," said Kyra. Zara pointed down the hall to where Ace and Slam were standing talking to each other. "OK, I guess it is all of us."

"No, it's not!" Nathan corrected, "We'd still need Rev."

"Hey-what-are-you-guys-doing-here?" Rev said, zooming over from the other side of the hall, "Did-you-guys-get-the-same-call-I-did? Wow-that-is-so-weird-that-they-would-call-every-single-one-"

"Now it's all of us," Nathan said.

_Now we're done_

Ace and Slam walked over and joined the group.

"Looks like we've all gotten roped into the icebergs," Ace said.

"I know," said Kyra, standing up and grabbing her backpack, "But I am not talking to you guys. Now let's just go there, save the penguins, and never darken each other's doorways again!" She boarded the plane and the others shrugged and followed.

'_Cause you got me planning to go_

_SOLO!_

_Solo..._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Zack got on the plane and sat down next to a girl with green eyes and blonde hair who was reading a book.

The girl turned to face him. "Hey, aren't you one of those guys that used to work with the Loonatics, you know, before they split up?"

"Yeah, that's me," said Zack, "Zack Thompson."

"Gail. Gail Laden."

Kyra was all the way at the back of the group's section of the plane and was getting lonely. She pointed at her bag and out came an orange kitty that immediately began purring and rubbing its head against her. Kyra smiled and petted it. She let the cat rest in her lap and pulled out her MP3 Music Blaster 5000 and began to listen to her music.

Apparently, she didn't realize that there was a dog across the aisle and a few seats up. The dog noticed the newly summoned cat and began barking at it.

Duck heard the barking and started freaking out, dropping his book in Zara's lap, directly across the aisle.

Zara looked at the book. "Hey, this book's only 19 pages long!"

The dog jumped at the cat, which jumped out of Kyra's lap and began to run.

"Can anyone get them to calm down?" Nathan suggested. He knew that the flight was going to last another 6 hours.

"Don't worry," Tech said, "When a dog's misbehaving, you…just flick it on the nose." He pushed down on the dog's back to make it stop running. "Hey, Rover." He tested his theory…and the dog bit his snout. "OUCH!" He started rubbing his nose. "Then again, I majored in physics, not animal behavior."

Kyra attempted to use her power to tell the 2 animals to stop it. "Guys! Bad dog! Don't hurt the kitty!"

* * *

While the Loonatics and L-Force continued on the forever flight, Cassandra was alone in the abandoned building where she, Deirdre, and Loraine were residing. She was reading a book when she noticed the door that led to the back room, which Deirdre wouldn't let her go near. She looked around to make sure Deirdre and Loraine weren't back from the latest soul session and then closed her book and approached the door. But just when she was about to reach for the doorknob…

"What do you think you're doing?"

Cassandra gasped and turned around to see Deirdre and Loraine coming in. "I-I was…I-"

"Save it," said Deirdre, "There's nothing back there that you should have anything to do with."

"What are you doing back here anyway?" Cassandra asked.

"I forgot my bag and Loraine said that the sun was too high for her to leave the shadows," Deirdre explained, grabbing her bag. She checked her watch. "With any luck, the sun is setting right now." She led Loraine out. "STAY AWAY FROM THAT DOOR!"

Cassandra sighed. She never got to have any fun.

* * *

What Deirdre was unaware of was that Wake had snuck out and was right then looking for new victims in the park. There were only 4 girls there. Wake closed her eyes. "Power. Unknown but strong." She opened her eyes. "I'm amazed Loraine hasn't found hers yet…but with any luck, these girls will be worth more." She walked off, hiding behind trees and concealing herself in the shadows.

"I'm telling you, Denna," one of them said, obviously fighting with the girl named Denna, "if you do not have your head in this, leave!"

"Meredith's right, Den," said another one, "I think we'd be better off without you blocking our way."

"Astrid…" Denna started.

"Save it," said the last one, "We all liked the guy and said that we weren't going to snatch him up and went out with him anyway!"

"It wasn't even an official date, _Josephine_!"

"1: Don't call me that, I go by Josie. 2: I saw you guys kissing! 3: GET OUT!"

Denna groaned and left. "Guy came on to me, you idiots," she grumbled as she walked off, "Must be the first time in the world where one guy broke up a whole quartet." Before she could go on, Wake grabbed, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Scream and I'll kill you," Wake said, "Your power is nowhere near as strong as the others." She Vamped out. "But I'm going to take it anyway." She bit deep into the girl's neck.

Meanwhile, Meredith, Josie, and Astrid were talking.

"Maybe we were too hard on her," said Astrid.

"You wanna go tell her that?" asked Meredith, "DENNA! She can't-"

"Oh, sorry." Wake came out from her hiding place, felling fully strengthened. "Denna can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message. Look, let's make this simple." She walked closer to them. Josie tried to leave, but Wake pointed at her feet and they were glued to the spot. "I am going to kill you. Anyone who objects, please speak now, or forever be a creature of the night. No offers? Very well!" She Vamped out again and bit deep into Meredith's neck. Astrid screamed and started to run, but Wake just dropped Meredith's body and grabbed Astrid instead.

While all these events were unfolding, Josie attempted to free herself from the spell Wake had cast on her. She pulled and tugged on her feet, but they wouldn't leave their places on the ground.

Before she could make any attempt to use her unknown powers, Wake came up behind her and grabbed her by the neck, pulling her up. "Try to run and I'll kill you." She shrugged. "Oh, well, I'm going to do it anyway." She bit into the girl's neck and the spell was released, letting Josie's dead body fall to the ground. She turned back to her normal self…but her appearance had changed. Her skin was a couple shades brighter, her hair was a lighter color, and her eyes were a different hue entirely. "4 more down, 750 to go."

* * *

When Deirdre and Loraine came back into their building, Cassandra was asleep on the couch and 3 more girls were in the room.

"Uh…who are you?" asked Deirdre.

"I'm Astrid," said one of them, "This is Meredith and Josie. We're here to join the Dark Side."

Loraine walked over to them. "Hmm…3 new Vamps. Same sire?" The 3 girls nodded.

Deirdre then realized that 'sire' meant the person who turned them. "Uh…will you excuse me for a second?" She went through the door and sealed it shut behind her. "Alright. What were you thinking? What if the Loonatics had gotten back together and come along? They're stronger together, they could've torn you apart!"

Wake grabbed Deirdre's throat. "Don't push me, I'm _your_ master. I'll do what I have to do to get my power back. And trust me, after this week, the Loonatics will not be a problem." She let go and Deirdre struggled to catch her breath. "Say one word like that to me _ever again_, and you'll end up like your brother."

Deirdre looked at her one last time and left the room.

"If the creatures I've awakened in the Antarctic don't get rid of them…I'm coming out."

* * *

Finally, the plane landed.

Duck raced himself off faster than Rev. "Boy, am I glad to be off that plane." He then started shivering from the severe cold. "Get me back on! GET ME BACK ON!"

Zara pushed him back as the rest of the people on the plane (the other members of the 2 teams and Gail) loaded off. "I wish we could all stay warm." She snapped her hands and the 11 of them seemed to be impervious to the cold. "Happy?"

"Very."

The guy who had brought them all together came up. "Get used to it. Even before the meteor it was cold year-round. Now it's mostly cold 363 days a year."

"And you brought us here to freeze to death?" Kyra asked.

"Oh no, I just thought that you could help with…a problem."

"What kind of problem?" asked Lexi, not liking the way he'd said that.

"Monsters."

"Ha!" Duck said, "If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one-"

"I'm serious."

"Oh."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"What kind of monsters are we talking about?" Kyra asked.

"I don't know, but it sure is scaring the penguins away," said the guy. He looked at Gail and smiled. "First things first, I'm Matt Mason."

Gail smiled back. "And I'm out of your league."

"Well, Out-Of-Your-League…" Gail scoffed. "…I think this may be serious."

"How serious exactly?" asked Tech.

"Well, anyone who came here left…different."

Duck scoffed. "Who would wanna come here?" Everyone glared at him. "What?"

"For your information, more people have come here in the past 2 years than…since the creation of the world."

"Whatever, Mike!"

"Matt."

"Whatever!"

"Look, the point is I think these people might be possessed!"

"OK, we'll get right on it!" Lexi pulled them all off.

* * *

The moon shone bright in the sky. A boy was walking down the streets. He came to the warehouse and knocked on the metal door.

Loraine rushed to attention first. "Someone found us."

"Certainly not one of the Loonatics," Cassandra said.

Deirdre walked over to the door and opened it, making the boy fall through the doorway and into the building. "What do you want?"

He smiled at her. "I'm here to join the Dark Side."

"You're not a Vampire, are you?"

The boy scoffed. "Vampire? Yeah, right! Like they actually ex-" He stopped when he saw Loraine morph. He started to run out, but Deirdre stopped him, closing the door.

Deirdre looked at Loraine. "Lori, he's a mutant. Don't scare him away!" Loraine morphed back. "Listen, kid. We don't have all day. Now show us your power and prove you can help or get out!"

The boy half-smiled and 1000 needles burst out of his body.

"Whoa." Deirdre kicked him, careful to avoid the needles, and he turned back to normal. "Alright, porcupine, is that it?"

He looked at her, his eyes glowing a weird shade of red (just the irises, not entirely like Rev). "It's a full moon tonight." He turned into a wolf.

Astrid morphed and wrestled him to the ground. "I'll turn back if you do." He turned back to human and she did the same. "A half-Werewolf porcupine mutant with a fear of Vampires, who, until an hour ago, he claimed to not believe were real?"

"Pretty much," said the boy, "Watch out for the needles, by the way, they're poisonous. Name's Roscoe."

"Yeah, don't care," said Astrid.

"So are all of you Vampires?"

"Except for me," said Cassandra, "And Deirdre here." She nodded to Deirdre, who was smiling.

"Well then," said Deirdre, "I guess we've got our first boy on the team."

* * *

Gail looked around a glacier. She didn't see anything. Then a shadow appeared on one of the icebergs. It headed for her. She ran off…and bumped into Zack, knocking him into a glacier. "Sorry, Zack!"

Zack's eyes turned reddish-black and faded back to normal again. "No problem." He faced her. "Just one question: What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this when you've got no brain in your abnormally large-" Suddenly, Zara bumped into him, knocking him back to normal. "Ow!"

"Sorry," Zara apologized, "Rev accidentally tapped into his powers and was sliding across the ice and he kind of hit me."

Rev ran into the glacier, too. "Ow."

"See my point?"

Tech carefully came over. "You guys OK? I saw you keep bumping into each other."

"We're fine," said Zack, "But I think I kind of blacked out for a second."

"Sorry, that was probably my bad," said Gail.

Duck quacked up, followed by Ace, Kyra, Nathan, and Lexi sliding over in the same style as Tech…and Slam crashing into the glacier the same way as Rev, making it crumble to ice cubes due to his weight.

"Sorry," Slam got out.

"Anything?" asked Nathan.

"Nothing besides blacking out," Zack repeated.

"I didn't catch anything," Zara said, shaking her head.

"I-zoomed-over-practically-the-whole-continent-and-I-think-that-whatever-was-here-is-gone-now."

"I didn't see a thing either," said Lexi.

"Eh, Kyra?" Ace asked, making it pretty clear that he hadn't found anything suspicious.

Kyra shook her head, too. "Nada."

"Nuttin'," said Nathan, crossing his arms.

"Uh-uh," Duck said, shaking his head.

"No," Slam babbled.

"Nothing here," said Tech.

Zack looked at Gail. "Did you see anything?"

She smiled. "Nope. Not one thing." [Zoom in on her, eerily.]

* * *

Wake paced around her room. "Foolish mortals…they dared to banish me…they will not succeed this time…once I have my full power back…I will destroy this world. And I will rule it. For I am the Scourge of the Underworld and I-"

"I get it," Deirdre said, walking in, "You're evil, upset, and ready to kill. But I don't think your hunts are required for much longer. We're out."

"'Out'?"

"There are mutants out there already on our side and they're coming to join us."

Wake half-smiled. "So many that we'll have an army within the week?"

"Maybe not that many, but so many that the Loonatics are gonna beg for mercy when they discover that they're outnumbered."

"There are 10 of them. We currently have 6. 7, if you count me, but I have not regained my full strength yet."

"Which is kind of creepy considering how powerful you already are."

"I know. Should there be some many mutants willing to join our ranks that I would not have to turn them for us to have an army strong enough to defeat those pesky 'Loonatics,' then I believe…" Wake smiled evilly. "…that they surely will beg for mercy and cower in terror when they battle us."

* * *

"Well, that was a waste of 9 hours," Duck complained as the plane re-left.

"At least we know that something is going on besides Deirdre and Cassandra's murder massacre," Zara pointed out.

"Right," "Gail" said, "At least we know that." She looked at Zack, who was once again sitting next to her. Before she could say anything, the plane wrenched forward, knocking them all forward. Gail received the worst and bounced into the chair directly in front of her. Zara was the only one who noticed her eyes turn an evil shade of green for a split second and then back to their normal green. What was up with this girl? Something had changed during their day there…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Lexi sighed as the team loaded out of the airport back into downtown Acmetropolis. "At last, we're finally off that plane! I felt like we were going to be on then the rest of our lives."

Zara pulled "Gail" back and away from the group. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she asked, clenching her hand into a fist behind her back.

"Sure…what-" Before "Gail" could go any further, Zara punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

"Zara!" Zack scolded his sister, "What do you think you're-" He didn't get to finish that sentence before "Gail" rolled over to reveal that her eyes were flashing green again.

"Gail" bicycle-kicked herself up and kicked Slam in the chest, knocking him backwards into Ace and Duck, practically pinning all 3 to the ground.

"Let me guess," Lexi said, "While we were in the Antarctic, one of the monsters got to Gail."

The shadow demon smiled. "Good guess." It knocked back Lexi and Kyra.

Nathan came forward. "Don't worry, I'll deal with this." The shadow demon punched him in the face and he fainted. "OK, I can't deal with this."

Rev circled around the demon, who closed her eyes, waited, and kicked him without having to look.

"You think I'm bad?" the demon asked, "You have no idea what's coming."

"Don't really care," Zara said, leg-sweeping the demon and knocking her down.

The demon just pulled her down and jumped up again, kicking back Tech in the process and leaving Zack the only one left standing. The demon smiled and swung her leg around to his back, pushing him forward and knocking him onto his hands and knees. But instead of knocking him out, his eyes once again flashed reddish-black. Zack stood up and kicked her in the stomach. She pushed him to the ground and they rolled down the hill the airport was on (not a very great location, was it?). When they landed, she punched him again, making his eyes flash again. She reared back to hit him again, but he caught her fist and pushed her off. She moved to attack at a different angle…but was pushed off by some invisible force.

"As much as I love a good fight, I think that's enough for now." Everyone turned to see Loraine standing not too far down the road (the sun wasn't going to rise for another 5 hours).

The demon groaned and walked over there. "What do you think you're doing here, Vampire?"

"What? Vampire?" Duck ranted.

"Some shadow demon you are, beating them down in a false body when the sun isn't up," Loraine scolded.

"She did say Vampire, right?" Duck asked.

"If the sun were up, my powers would be down," the demon corrected, "Or at least weak enough to knock me out of this body had I not left the base."

"Am I the only one who noticed her say 'Vampire'?" Duck cried.

"Duck! Let it go!" Lexi shouted.

Loraine scoffed. "You have no idea what's coming."

"Of course, I do," the demon corrected, "I know who your sire is. They don't."

"Too bad for them. Oh, well. They're gonna die either way, so whatever."

"I can't let it go!" Duck shouted, "I can't get past 'Vampire'!"

Loraine morphed. "Zip it!"

Duck yelped and jumped into Zara's arms.

Loraine morphed back and turned back to the demon. "That's it. I'm out. If I leave now, I can get some hunting in before the sun rises." With that, she left.

"Alright, what just happened?" asked Kyra.

"I don't know," said Zara, "But Duck, could you please GET OFF ME!" She dropped Duck on the sidewalk. "Thank you!" She sighed. "Second of all, amongst that whole conversation, the shadow demon may have given up a way to get Gail back—where'd she go?" They all looked where Gail and Loraine had been and saw that they were now both gone.

"Alright, we gotta find her and stop this," Tech said.

"Whoa, whoa, 'we'?" Duck asked, getting up from the sidewalk, "What's with the 'we'? Why is the 'me' always included in the 'we'? There is no 'we'! 'Me' is going to solve this myself!" He started to walk off, but Kyra stopped him.

"You know you can't do this yourself, Duck," Kyra corrected, "We need each other. Also…now we know that Vampires exist and we've never faced them before." She looked at the horizon where the sun would be rising in about an hour.

* * *

The warehouse wasn't empty, but Loraine was the only one in the main room. She sighed, thinking over the day. She was upset that she couldn't hunt in the daytime. Now she was focused on trying to figure out what her power(s) was/were. She started going over her human memories to see if she had missed something once (since Vampires have much better memory than normal humans) and came to the first song she'd ever sung. Not noticing Cassandra, once again reading a book, come in, Loraine started singing: "_ …let all your cares slide, leave the pain behind, and let your worries fade away… _"

Suddenly, Cassandra took in a sharp breath, clutched her stomach, dropped her book, and fell to the floor, causing Loraine to notice that she was there.

Astrid came in, noticed Cassandra, and ran over. She lifted up Cassandra's shirt and saw that she was bleeding out. She looked at Loraine, who shook her head to clear that she hadn't been feeding, and started licking off the blood until Cassandra was back to normal, still taking in sharp intakes of breath.

Loraine jumped up and ran into the back room. "Wake!"

Wake looked at her and smiled. "I see you found your power."

Loraine smiled, both excitedly…and evilly.

* * *

The Loonatics and L-Force collected in Acme Park that night.

Tech was carrying a book. "According to this thing, Vampires can be injured by holy water, garlic, and crosses and killed by sunlight, decapitation, fire, and wooden stakes to the hearts."

"I think we already knew this," said Duck, "But thanks for the recap."

Tech glared at him. "It also says that mutants turned into Vampires keep their powers, getting stronger when they haven't already discovered their powers."

"OK, that's bad."

"Especially considering the fact that if she had discovered her powers, that girl would've used them when she had the chance," said Kyra, "Which means she's probably gonna be really strong when we get a chance to fight her."

"Got that right." They all turned to see "Gail" leaning against a nearby tree. "You guys could never hope to battle a Vampire. Let alone more than one."

"Tell me about." Another turn and they saw Loraine standing there with Astrid, Josephine, and Meredith. "You guys are so dead."

"Look who's talking," "Gail" snapped.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Loraine knocked Nathan onto the ground of the Park. She jumped on top of him in Vampire form. Before she could lean in for the bite, though, he got out a cross and pinned it to her chest. It started to burn her, so she jumped off and turned back into her human guise. Before Nathan could get up from the ground, though, a hand reached out of the ground below him and grabbed his arm. He reacted instantly, stabbing it with the cross. A shriek-like sound came out of the ground as he backed away. The hand was burning. It was a fledgling Vampire that was just rising! Loraine smiled, remembering how she'd gotten to sire a few people on her last hunt. The Vampire dug itself out of the ground and joined fight, followed by a few more Vamps.

"OK, that's a challenge," Tech said, remembering the shadow demon's warning about how they couldn't face Vampires.

Kyra ran over to one of the Vampires and kicked it, knocking it backwards and into a tree so that one of the branches pierced it in the heart, making it turn to dust. "Whoa. I'm never gonna get that image out of my head." She ran over to Nathan and helped him up from the ground so that he could re-join the fight. "You OK?"

"Just fine considering I was almost killed." The first risen Vampire finally tugged the cross out of its hand and threw it at Nathan, hitting him in the head so hard that he fell down again. "Ow."

Meanwhile, Loraine and the shadow demon in Gail's body were going at it. Loraine kicked the demon, who punched her in the nose. Loraine, due to pain reflex, was forced to morph and felt the anger boiling up inside her. She jumped at the demon, pinning it to a tree. The demon yanked a branch off the tree and prepared to stake Loraine.

Loraine, of course, had to act fast and felt herself start to sing again: "_ …let all your cares slide, leave the pain behind, and let your worries fade away… _"

The demon felt itself weakening and dropped the stake, falling to the ground in pretty much the same manner as Cassandra had before at the warehouse (except this time not bleeding out). Gail saw her chance and started to force out the demon, pushing it away from her body. Finally, the demon was forced out entirely and took form outside of her body. But before it could react to this, it melted, too weakened by Loraine's powers to fight back.

"OK, what just happened?" Loraine asked.

Gail grabbed onto Loraine's leg…making her faint.

Zack stared at Gail. "You're a mutant, too?"

Gail stood up and walked over to them, panting heavily. "Yeah, didn't I mention that?"

Loraine got up, angrily. "You are so dead!"

"Uh oh. I'm outtie." Gail ran off.

"Thanks for the help!" Duck called after her.

Gail glared at him, sighed, rolled her eyes, and ran off.

Loraine started to run after her, but noticed that Meredith was already doing something. Meredith held out her hand and a ball of fire emerged from midair and chased after Gail.

"Rev, do something!" Zack yelled.

"On-it!" Rev, being the fastest, ran off and pushed Gail to the ground down the street before the fire could incinerate her. The fire, not being quite as fast, instead burned the grass beside them. "That-was-a-close-one-are-you-OK-cause-that-fire-whatever-it-was-could've-seriously-"

"I get it!" Gail interrupted, getting up, "And yes, I am fine."

"Good." Rev ran back to the park, just in time to see that Loraine, Astrid, Josephine, and Meredith were all gone, leaving the fledgling Vamps to fight the team.

"Did I neglect to mention that Vampires, along with an occasional power boost, also get enhanced speed about 2/3 as fast as Rev?" Tech asked.

"Yeah, you kind of forgot that one," said Zara, staking a Vamp. There was only about 5 left, so it wasn't too bad.

Gail went over to help Zack.

"So you're a mutant?" Zack asked.

"I think we have that established," she said, kicking a Vamp away.

"Cool. What can you do?"

"Calming—like I just did a little bit ago with that lead Vampire—and spiritual manipulation—commanding souls and such."

"Wow."

"I know. My parents are very proud."

Finally, Lexi brain-blasted the final Vamp, knocking him back so hard that Ace got his chance to dust it.

Zack sighed with relief. "That was a close one." He looked at Gail. "So do think we're gonna see each other again?"

"I'll be around." Gail walked off. "Good luck fighting the undead." She left.

The Loonatics and L-Force collected in the center of the park.

"So, uh…" Ace said, "I guess we do kind of need each other in this fight."

"We sure can't do it alone," said Lexi.

Slam said something.

"That's a good point," said Kyra.

"So we call a truce?" Zara asked, "No more fighting amongst ourselves, just against the bad guys?"

Kyra smiled. "I hope so."

"If it helps," Tech said, "since I'm the first one who quit, I'll be the first one to apologize and say I was wrong."

"Great, so I don't have to," Duck said.

"Duck!" Zara snapped.

"OK…I'm sorry."

Zara looked at Kyra. "Friends?"

Kyra smiled. "Sure."

"Group hug?"

"No."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Deirdre said, "You _didn't_ kill any of them?"

"No, but I did find out what my power is," said Loraine, "as did Mer."

"Yes, Lore," Deirdre corrected, "and in the process, the Loonatics and 'L-Force' got back together!"

Loraine then realized her mistake and her smile faded. "Oops."

"Exactly. So why didn't you kill them?"

"Can we pass the 'didn't kill them' part?" Astrid demanded.

Deirdre sighed. "OK." She looked at Cassandra and Roscoe. "You 2 guard the place. We've got something to do." She led the 4 Vampires into the back room and locked the door behind them.

"What's so special about that room?" Roscoe asked Cassandra.

"Don't know," Cassandra answered, "All I know is that we're not allowed back there. It's just for dead people and the leading lady."

Deirdre approached Wake. "OK, these kids had the Loonatics cornered and they didn't do anything-"

"It's not time to kill them yet."

Deirdre was caught off-guard by Wake's rebuttal. "What?"

Wake looked at them, angrily. "However, in your attempt to do so, you not only ruined _my _plan, but got them back together!"

"Again, oops," Loraine said.

Wake sighed. "On the bright side, we know what your powers are. Loraine, you can…'punish' people that hear you sing. Meredith, you have the gift of Enchanted Elements: Watch-Fire, a fireball that will find a target and attempt to kill them; Dancing-Seas, a hypnotizing water that will entrance a target and drown them; Vile-Vines, which the name says it all; and Anger-Winds, which will paralyze a victim entirely. Astrid, you are able to awaken monsters. And Josephine, you were granted the ability to make anybody fear anything."

"Wow," Meredith said, "What could Denna do?"

"Nothing much," Wake answered, "That's why I didn't turn her. She wasn't as powerful as you. I like to change just the right victims."

"Well, you sure chose well," Josephine pointed out.

"Oh, and one more thing: we do know something about one of L-Force kids that may just come in handy with us."

"What? Which one? What's the secret?" Deirdre asked a flurry of questions.

Wake smiled. "The Death-Bringer. The one who killed your brother."

This got Deirdre's attention. "What about him?"

"Him killing your brother awakened a dark force inside him. His powers were meant for the one person we needed the most and it was him. Every time he experiences a traumatic moment, it turns him evil. What we need. A second time and he goes back to normal."

Deirdre smiled. "So all we gotta do is give a non-lethal experience so 'traumatic' that he stays evil. This ought to be fun."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


End file.
